The Daily Routine That Transforms Lives
Healing at Destiny Haven is more than just therapy—it’s a carefully crafted daily routine designed to see broken lives restored to their full potential. From the moment the day begins until the final moments of reflection at night, every part of the schedule is thoughtfully planned to support recovery and personal growth.
Come join us for a day in the life at Destiny Haven, nestled in the tranquil Hunter Valley of New South Wales.
7.30am | Breakfast
The Diamonds* eat breakfast together as a group each morning. There are a bunch of standard breakfast items available, or they are able to purchase their own favourite foods to keep in the kitchen cupboards.
8am | Cleaning
With everyone pitching in, a rotating roster ensures that shared spaces stay tidy, but it also helps build a sense of responsibility and teamwork. Many of the Diamonds never learned how to clean a house in the past, so they are learning how to mop floors, clean toilets, and other jobs for the first time. The Diamonds spend this first hour of the day cleaning various spaces according to the roster.
9am | Devotions
Recovery has a bunch of different parts to it. The spiritual piece of the puzzle is the cornerstone of the healing process. Faith is fundamental to personal growth and recovery—almost every single graduate of the Destiny Haven program can testify to this. For about an hour each morning, the Diamonds spend time doing what they call SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer.
10am | Groups
The next two hours are spent either in work programs or in various forms of therapy: group therapy sessions, individual learning modules and art therapy.
Group therapy sessions are held by highly trained clinical services staff. Topics explored include understanding boundaries, co-dependency, understanding anger, psycho-educational topics, understanding addiction and the addiction cycle, understanding complex trauma and its effects on the adult person and many more.
The Diamonds also work through modules at their own pace, depending on their own unique backgrounds and circumstances. The learning modules are based on a similar approach to the group sessions in that an individual’s underlying issues need to be addressed for long-term recovery to take place.
As for art therapy—Diamonds who have graduated will state that much of their healing was achieved through the creative-art therapy classes. This process is designed to help women heal from many issues in their past that they may initially struggle to articulate in traditional talking therapy. Art therapy sessions are one of the most beneficial components of our program.
The work programs are related to our social enterprises, which provide employability skills training opportunities for the Diamonds. During this time of the day you will often find them making chocolate, cleaning Valley View and Carriageway, running events at times, making jewellery, sewing, ironing, washing, making jams and relishes—the list goes on!
1pm | Lunch
2pm | Duties
Our amazing volunteer, Carmel, comes in twice a week to teach the Diamonds about all things gardening. They absolutely love working with her in the garden, and the gardens look great because of it!
An important aspect of recovery is physical health. Exercise is extremely beneficial to our minds and our overall well being. Most women arrive at Destiny having led very unhealthy lifestyles. As part of the program, the Diamonds do a gym class once a week with Katie, our personal trainer, running everyone through their paces—and she does work them hard! The Diamonds absolutely love Katie, and gym is definitely a highlight in the week for many of the women (even those who initially are reluctant to take part).
Evening | After-Dinner Devotionals
Janine and Lewis join the Diamonds for dinner each night. Afterwards, they spend time in the Word together, and take part in a daily rhythm called the Thankful Books. Every single week night since 2007, each one of the Diamonds has taken a turn to hand write three things they are grateful for that day. There are now dozens of books containing years worth of collective gratitude!
The Diamonds can only play games in the evening once their homework is done. There is quite a lot of homework expected by each Diamond during their time with us—this includes two feelings journals a day, a SOAP, and then working through the different group work material set for that week.
After writing in their journals, the Diamonds often choose to spend some time playing games together (Rummikub is a firm favourite!) before heading to bed.
In amongst the daily routine there are weekly rhythms, too: Friday night is movie night, for example, and we currently have two volunteers who come every Monday and every second Tuesday to help out with anything that needs to be done.
In the structured, supportive environment of Destiny Haven, every moment of the day is designed to nurture growth, healing, and connection—empowering the Diamonds to rebuild their lives, one step at a time.
*Diamond = our affectionate name for the women at Destiny Haven. A diamond is formed deep beneath the earth’s crust under great pressure, extreme temperature and over thousands of years. When first discovered, a diamond is unrecognisable to most as anything of beauty. It’s only when the stone is taken by a master craftsman who cuts and polishes it to bring out the dazzling brilliance that its [her] true worth is realised. At Destiny Haven, it is our goal that every woman would know that she is priceless and significant—created with a purpose and destiny that only she can fulfil.
